Complicated questions...

First off, let me start by saying that from what I know so far, you'd probably be better off academically if you study at one of the top schools in HK or Singapore. Although I haven't studied there, the culture and language differences in Taiwan, even in an international English program, can get quite frustrating, and the Taiwanese aren't quite there yet when it comes to education globalization. With that said - they are trying, and I believe in a few years, if they'll keep at the current track, they'll arrive at the same level as the Singaporeans and HKese.

When it comes to finance - There's the Taiwan scholarship (~900-1000US$ a month), which is not bad, although nothing too exciting. Those who don't get Taiwan scholarship, get tuition waiver, free dorms and 300US$ a month for assistant-ship (which I highly -don't- recommend) in most universities. Some universities offer better scholarships (NCTU, NTU), some don't. Westerners teach English, some trade stuff on Ebay, and others (3rd world countries) just live on that.

I would like to see as many quality international students come to Taiwan, but I would strongly recommend that you keep a backup option with a Singapore/HK top-school. If you have the chance, I also strongly recommend coming in for a visit to see things for yourself. NCKU, for example, has a spring signup for free, and since tuition is also free you have nothing to lose, so you can come try that for a semester and if it doesn't suit you - go to plan B.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Hi,

I used to live in TW and had the same questions as you have. I was looking for PhD program in history and was looking specifically at NTU or NTNU. Neither have programs that are in English and, working full time, wanting to go to school only part-time, needed a flexible program. The TW unis are very much modeled on the American style PhD program in that regard... that you have to take quite a bit of coursework. So... I moved to HK and am now studying at HKU, part-time, and working full-time. The HKU, and other HK unis, are modeled on the British system, which is much more research based, and requires a lot less coursework. All courses are in English, mostly by Brits, Aussies, or N. Americans, at least all courses in my dept seem to be.

Regarding cost, HKU is relatively inexpensive at only 3,500 USD a year for a part-time student, finishing in four years. For full-timers it's a bit more, although not much, BUT I think that most of these full-time students get studentships of not less than about 19,000 USD a year. Now that's for my dept, and from what I'm familiar with, which is limited specifically to the history dept.

Another plus is that although they expect you to learn the second language, you have time to learn it while you are working on the PhD. Overall a nice program... except I literally HATE the fact that I have to listen to Cantonese every day on the street. It is such an ugly language, particularly compared to Mandarin, which is really beautiful to listen to.

Good luck!

Kris